Champions League Final 2009: FC Barcelona vs ManUtd: Champions of Europe!

[Bojan]

He was even too slow for Drogba, I can`t imagine him chasing Rooney, Ronaldo or Tevez
Caceres is a natural defender and I can see no problem there

[Beast]

Toure on CD was a terrible mistake and only by luck and ref`s mistakes we got away with it.

it was his first game my friend , he had to fill in in less then a week..the game still has 3 weeks to go and i believe Pep will use Puyol to stop CR on the flanks..Toure could train more.. and i think he will be man marking Berbatov not Rooney or CR or else it will be a disaster

[shadows]

Are you serios ?! I thought he did an excellent job there. Other than the Pique handball I don't think Chelsea deserved any other penalties. Just because he out-muscled Drogba in the box doesn't mean it was a penalty.

Agree..But that was because no one really attacked us..Toure is 2 slow and guys like Rooney or Ronaldo will skin Toure as well..Keita as LB is suicide as well..But since Henry and Iniesta will cover up he should be fine...Yaya for me should play DMF..Xavi seems more comfortable and more attacking when Yaya is there..otherwise he becomes too deep..

[jairzinho]

it could be another 4-0 Milan final you know,either way.

it could be another 4-1 pool demolition

but i've got to say that it'd be more likely for us to win like that than you,because it does seem as though you struggle to break down better/proper defences

yeah we do have a problem when facing 9 and 10 men defenses plus the keeper

[Warik]

Nothing like the 94 final...in 94 we were favourites, Milan underdogs...this time we are the underdogs.

[Evil]

I'd bet anything that Caceres will not start. I mean Pep didn't play him in the semi-final and played a DMF instead. So what makes you think he will play in the Champions League FINAL.

[Bojan]

Because we were lucky to escape with a clean sheet? Because Toure is too slow to keep up with Tevez, Ronaldo, or even Rooney?

[Evil]

Because we were lucky to escape with a clean sheet? Because Toure is too slow to keep up with Tevez, Ronaldo, or even Rooney?

He isn´t slow, I´ve seen him running very fast before. The problem is he get´s lazy sometimes so it looks like he´s just jogging instead of running. Anyways we´ll see, I´m sure Pep rates Yaya much higher than Cáceres.

[Fourteen]

I'm really amazed that pundits seem to think Man Utd are such out right favourites. Our defence is weak, but not completly incapable or producing a controlled performance, even with Caceres. Our strongest Midfield and Attack will be available, considering we have/get no injuries, so it really seems suprising that we are underdogs.

[Warik]

We needed a big, tall and strong CB in the semi, and Chelsea don't have a huge amount of pace. Man Utd have pace but not so much the aerial threat of Chelsea.

[Fourteen]

Well from corners and free-kicks they do very well with the likes of Rio and Vidic coming up, but you're right. Bar Ronaldo, they don't really score headers from play so perhaps it would be wise to use Caceres somewhere.

[Beast]

well from now till the 27th of May a lot can happen.. an injury to Vidic or Rio..etc .. lets see before the game is squads are the same

[Heath Newton]

Our front 3 has scored 90 goals combined so far this season...what has your little front 6 done..?

you know full well i mean on the day against your defence that i think they can exploit them,as opposed to your magic 3,who last time i checked had scored 0 goals in the last 6 outings against english teams.(henry wasn't there when you played l/p tho )

careful what u wish for mate not too many teams will do that..take a page from chelsea and just park the damn bus.

it's not what I want though,and tbh,i genuinely am a fan who'd be gutted if we lost,but whenever we lose briliant football matches i hold my hands up and admit it,as well as being appreciative enough to have seen it,and had a vested interest in it.

hahahaha....u seem to be a very confident chap Heath....honestly you have a better defense (on paper) going into the match....so we'll see how things go

come on,if your best player the other night couldn't get into our 1st team,then you seriously don't think you've got the better of both defences do you??

it could be another 4-1 pool demolition

could being the word,but as i said in another post somewhere,that took Torres playing very well,and our defence playing the worst they'd played for years.
it might happen again,but they haven't looked too bad of late,so i'll take my chances that they'll probably be up to scratch on the night.
now...if that's not good enough to contain your forwards,then good,because skill and invention will win out,but that doesn't mean it won't be happening at the other end of the pitch at the same time.

yeah we do have a problem when facing 9 and 10 men defenses plus the keeper

just as you must find in La Liga,don't you think that that's what we tend to face most weeks?yet somehow we prevail.
the difference appears to be that in europe,you have a recent history of struggling to overcome it.(which isn't something that cheers me too much if i'm honest)

Nothing like the 94 final...in 94 we were favourites, Milan underdogs...this time we are the underdogs.

my comparison was that of you being "perceived" as a footballing team that got overpowered by a fitter,stronger,better tactically,more rounded bunch of players who made you look like boys on the day.(i'm NOT saying that it's the case this time round,just that it could,imo be like that)
you ARE slight favourites in england as well btw,in case you didn't know

[Quash]

Would you rather play Keita in midfield and watch Ronaldo skin Sylvinho ?! Keita has some physical power so he'd be great at LB. Plus Busquets did a decent job against Chelsea. We don't have any other options. Maybe play Cáceres in defense and bring Yaya back to DMF ... but Cáceres in a CL Final .... suicide.

Eh? He was awful, really looked completely out of his depth against a team of that level. We must remember he's only 20 and this is his first season in the senior team, he just isn't ready yet. He wasn't ready to play in the Semis and was exposed as not good enough yet. United is streets ahead of Chelsea and will punish us dearly in the center of the pitch, there's no other option than Yaya, Xavi and El Rey.

[Fourteen]

That's funny...I thought the Barca and Man Utd sections were along the length of the pitch, not behind the goals...